A presentation that promotes the case for long-term investment in Early Childhood Education in Bougainville. Featuring a short interview with Bougainvillean ECE expert Dr Davinah Ope.

1. When investing in
education, the
highest long-term
yield for national
prosperity comes
from investing in
early childhood
education.
The case for investing in early childhood
education (ECE) in Bougainville, an autonomous
region of Papua New Guinea.

2. Our ability to learn new things peaks at birth,
and declines continuously after that moment.

3. It starts when we’re babies…
• Babies’ brains light up with excitement and activity, triggering up to a
million neural connections every second in response to adult voices,
smiles and attention. Repeated, these connections form pathways
that shape their thinking and emotional patterns for life and influence
their approach to learning, relationships and tackling challenges.^
^ https://thesector.com.au/2019/09/16/new-campaign-from-minderoo-aims-to-shift-public-
thinking-on-baby-brain-development/

4. Formalised Early Childhood Education (ECE) locks
in gains made in infant learning development.

5. ECE investment is a proven high yield
investment for future national productivity.
• Early childhood investments efficiently produce skills that are relevant
to a child’s future. Learning is cumulative—skills acquired at an earlier
stage facilitate skills formation in subsequent stages. The returns to
early investments are the highest of those made over the life span,
and the advantages conferred by these investments grow over time.
An additional dollar invested in quality early childhood programs
yields a return of US$6–$17.#
# Engle, et. al. “Strategies for Reducing Inequalities and Improving Developmental Outcomes for Young Children in Low-
Income and Middle-Income Countries.” Lancet 378 (9799): 1339–53.

6. The Bougainville context
• A post-conflict region of Papua New Guinea, that is now autonomous under the
terms of the peace agreement.
• Population about 350,000.
• Perpetually starved public budgets that can’t even cover recurrent costs, let alone
capital investment. An over-stretched and under-resourced public administration.
• Difficult governance environment, where government systems are weak and
dysfunctional.
• Very homogenised population (almost wholly indigenous) with very little
presence of non-Bougainvillean people or entities.
• A growing local economy, and growing demand for education services including
ECE.
• However, in some areas, education is not highly valued. Especially those areas
where alluvial gold mining dominates the economy.

7. The involvement of anyone from outside the
family in a child’s development prior to school is
considered a foreign cultural concept.
Minister for Community Development, Dame Carol Kidu, 2005.

8. Conflict exacerbates brain under-development
• Worldwide, more than 87 million children under age 7 have spent
their entire lives in conflict affected areas. They suffer from extreme
trauma and toxic stress, which impair their brain development and
skill enhancement. (from World Bank 2019 WDR, p.75)
• But, despite the scale of the need, post-conflict countries are more
likely not to invest properly in ECE. Western Europe and North
America average 8.8%, versus 0.3% in Sub-Saharan Africa. (op. cit.)

9. Getting political (and fiscal) attention for Early
Childhood Education is difficult
• Because investments in human capital may not produce economic returns
for years, politicians tend to think of shorter-term ways to burnish their
reputations. Although people with a basic education earn more than
people with no education, labour market returns for a basic education are
not realized until 10–15 years after these investments are made.
• This is even truer of investments in early childhood education. In Jamaica,
providing toddlers with psychosocial stimulation increased earnings by 25
percent, but these returns only materialized 20 years later.*
*Gertler, Paul J., James J. Heckman, Rodrigo Pinto, Arianna Zanolini, Christel Vermeersch, Susan P. Walker,
Susan M. Chang, and Sally M. Grantham-McGregor. 2014. “Labor Market Returns to an Early Childhood
Stimulation Intervention in Jamaica.” Science344 (6187): 998–1001.

10. The Good News
• Early Childhood Education policy has been adopted by national Papua
New Guinea government (but no funding), and the new Minister for
Education has prioritised ECE.
• Autonomous Bougainville Government has formally incorporated ECE
into the Bougainville Education Act 2013 (but no funding).
• Private demand for ECE is growing in Bougainville. In 2019 in one
network of ECE schools in Central Bougainville, there are:
• 28 schools.
• More than 100 trained and qualified teachers.
• 661 students, an increase of about 40% per year in the last 3 years.

11. Interview with Bougainville ECE expert Dr Ope, September 2019
Dr Ope talks about how ECE is growing in Bougainville.

12. New political energy to grapple with the challenge.

13. The steps to move this issue forward
This is a long-term project, and it requires an ongoing increase in
resourcing, both private and public. This needs to be matched by
improvements in quality. Some simple ideas to achieve this are:
1. Putting qualified ECE teachers in accredited ECE schools on the
teacher’s payroll under the Department of Education budget (local
teacher’s salary about US$3 – 5,000 per year).
2. Public co-financing for further training of qualified ECE teachers
from rural areas, who go back and start schools as small businesses
and do their own marketing, therefore expanding coverage.
3. Public co-financing of tuition fees for attendance at accredited ECE
schools.